The Right Collaboration is Key: How to Learn from a Bruised Ego

I'm going to be real honest with you guys. 

My ego was beyond bruised last year, so much so that I didn't even realize the lies I told myself to avoid feeling it.

Back in September, I tried my hand at hosting a solo workshop all about brand clarity. I worked really hard on the content over a period of months so that it would be incredibly thoughtful and valuable to my guests. I was presenting to a group of alumni at a college and later realized that I had relied too heavily on receiving support of the organization to help promote the workshop and get tickets sold. My contact there at the time who set it up is still one of my favorite people in the world, but unfortunately things just didn't work as we had hoped. They did some Insta Stories and sent an email out to their alumni, but it was buried in a long list of events and news. Not great.

It was the day of the workshop and I had sold 3 tickets.

To make things worse, one of the girls was sick. BUT I didn't cancel. I drove my butt downtown and did my very best. I threw my plan of a formal presentation out the window and dove into the content. I focused on providing these two women with a very personalized experience split between each of their budding businesses. 

In hindsight, I see that it's important to have these rough experiences to learn how to do things better, but after it was over, I felt exhausted and defeated.

I decided that workshops weren't for me.

I turned my focus to client projects and on growing a team at Written & Styled. So I did that. I put my head down and got to work. I added some wonderful new clients to our roster and some new amazing team members. 

So why was I feeling like something was still missing? I couldn't figure it out. I went to workshops, met with intuitive readers, coaches, and even a traditional therapist. Of course, it was more of my "woo" women supporters that opened my eyes. I'm told I have a lot of masculine "doing" energy and need to be more feminine and tune-in to my intuition and "feel" - that still confuses me a bit, but I agree and once I let go and connected to what made me happy, it clicked. 

I really missed coaching and working with new entrepreneurs. 

Before the workshop last year, I was collaborating with a co-working space in downtown where I provided free 30-min marketing coaching sessions for a day once a month. That was so fun. It was kind of like speed coaching where I helped people get out of their bubble and see things differently. In near every experience, I'd hear how clear they felt about their business and how excited they were to put these new ideas into action. Some turned into clients. From there, I started taking on one-on-one coaching clients and, in fact, this experience was what gave me the idea for the workshop in the first place.

It just goes to show you need to pick your collaborators well.

This brings me to last Saturday where Written & Styled presented and participated in an incredible panel discussion and speed mentoring event in collaboration with Savoir Collab (Founded by Tamalin Srisook of Savoir Agency) "Telling Your Brand Story" at Industrious West Hollywood (the prettiest co-working space ever).

Scroll down to see my list of top 8 takeaways from our event. 

Over the course of a short 3 weeks we had to work out all of the details, including the panelists, location, photography, food, promotion, etc. Tamalin has been in event production for over 20 years and I'll tell you, she knows her stuff. She loves supporting women-led businesses and loved my idea for the event right from the start.

Yet, it still takes a village! 

Without the awesome support of our panelists and our friends - sending emails, posting on social media and just showing up - it would never have been as successful. 

My goal was to help shine a light on brand storytelling from a group of expert storytellers. And no surprise, these women truly rocked it (listed from left to right in the image):

KRISTEN SCHELLENBERG- PHOTOGRAPHER & FOUNDER OF THE ATELIER LA

TASHA OLDHAM- FILMMAKER & FOUNDER OF MY STORY INC

HAELY WHITE- CONTENT CREATOR & CO FOUNDER OF LIKE TOTALLY

TAMALIN SRISOOK - FOUNDER OF SAVOIR AGENCY & SAVOIR COLLAB

ME - ARICA ROSENTHAL - MARKETING STRATEGIST & FOUNDER OF WRITTEN & STYLED

ERIKA HEET- EDITOR IN CHIEF AT INTERIORS MAGAZINE

MEGAN DIZON- CONTENT CREATOR & CO FOUNDER OF LIKE TOTALLY

The concept of "speed mentoring" is all Tamalin. It's awesome because attendees get to listen to a quick 30-min panel (I think we only got through each of our stories and none of the questions I had prepared!) then everyone is broken into small groups to speak with each panelists. 

The groups rotated every 15 minutes and then we ended with a little networking, photo ops, along with cupcakes and champagne for our birthday girl panelist, Haely. 

8 key takeaways from our event:

1. Partners. Find a collaboration partner that has a true desire to have a good turnout. 

2. Description and pricing. Once you have your event concept nailed, make sure to share the description and pricing with a few friends (who love you enough to be honest) to make sure they get it and would want to go. If not, tweak early. 

3. Promote early. Begin promoting earlier than you think you need to and get creative about how to spread the word. In the days leading up to our event I had quite a few great suggestions from friends that I wish I had plotted out sooner. 

4. Everyone needs to pitch in. Make it clear to those participating in your event that you're going to need their help promoting ahead of time. No matter the budget, it always helps and can make all the difference.

5. You're not annoying. No one ever sees all of your social posts, so don't feel like you're being annoying when you are posting all over the place leading up to your event.

6. IRL Opportunity. Find opportunities for personal connections. We are in front of our screen enough getting talked to, let your guests get involved and help them create relationships with your experts.

7. Photography + Video. Probably goes without saying, but it's so nice to look back on all the hard work you put it. We were lucky enough to have the lovely Stephanie Tusler of TSLR Lifestyle take the gorgeous photos seen in this post. We took a bunch of videos for our Instagram story and shared portions of the event live.

8. End on a high note. Keep the magic alive with thank you emails/notes to your collaborators and guests. Get as personal as you have the capacity for. 

The moral of this post is that I encourage everyone to be OK with failing or whatever you consider less than ideal. It teaches us the lessons we need to do better the next time if we are determined enough to try again. 

"In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety." - Abraham Maslow

With love,

Arica

Don't miss out on future events! 

Get on the list. 

All photography provided by TSLR Lifestyle. Contact stephanie@tslrlifestyle.com for amazing custom content for your brand. 

Do You Need Clarity in Your Marketing Message?

Everyone appreciates an objective third-party perspective.

Each time I meet with a coaching client for the first time, my goal is to provide some clarity and help them see things that they may have missed by being too "in it". In most cases, the owners and creatives I meet with know their stuff... they just need a little guidance in the right direction.

Many times, their reason for starting the business in the first place gets blurred or even forgotten. I think it's important to stay connected to that passion even if that means the passion has shifted. It's about awareness about, where you started and where you want to go. 

It's not easy to see the entire map when we're in the middle of the road. 

Here is a fun little clarity exercise to try:

Step #1: Write or record an explanation of your business without looking at any of your marketing assets. Just write/record freely without any references and try your best not to edit yourself.

• What inspired the creation of your business?
• What products/services do you make/provide?
• Who do you sell to?
• What do you love most about the business? What brings you the most joy?

Step #2: Look at your marketing assets (website, brochures, social platforms, business cards, hangtags, etc.) - Ask yourself if they all convey the same information/story as your clarity exercise did. 

When things don't jive, this creates confusion for you and for your customers. 

If you found inconsistencies, fix them so that every aspect of your message is cohesive and authentic to your story. 

This is actually the first thing I do when I provide a consultation with a potential coaching client. I want to see if what they tell me verbally about their business is the same thing that is being conveyed on their website, social platforms, etc.

Providing this kind of third-party perspective is one of the things I love most about coaching/consulting. I get to view the business like a potential customer might and give them truly unbiased feedback. 

Try the clarity exercise and PLEASE share your findings with me either confidentially via email at arica@writtenandstyled.com or be extra brave and post it here in the comments. :)

-Arica

image by Jordan McQueen via unsplash

Learning to Say No

I speak to you today from a place of love. 
How often do you say yes when you really want to say no? 

I'll be totally honest, I've always struggled with my natural desire to please others and say "yes". I'm not sure if I've always been that way, but my heart would rather come from a place of yes than a place of no. While that might sound nice, it's not always nice for me.

Do you relate?

I have been feeling really lucky lately to be increasing the amount of marketing services I provide as well as signing on super fun coaching clients. Things have been busy and I love that. Seeing clients have a light bulb go off about a certain idea I've suggested or be really pleased about a press release I've written is so amazing and fulfilling to me. I truly enjoy being helpful.

Yet, just recently, I found myself in a predicament of wanting to take on a new client. However, after some real soul-searching,  I decided it wasn't the right fit for either of us and referred them to another person that may have more experience in their industry. It was one of those moments where you realize you've grown in a new way. 

I pride myself on being fully transparent when I feel my expertise in a specific area is lacking. For someone just starting out, it can be scary to say no to new business. Yet, being honest about it is quite freeing. I think a lot of people may have taken on the project because of fear that their client may leave them for someone that could meet their needs more fully.

Working like that just doesn't work.

What about you? Are there aspects of how you run your business that aren't jiving with your goals? Has it just been easier to just say yes? It's never too late to make changes and be true to yourself.

I thought I'd share an article written by Michael Feeley for the Huffington Post, titled: Saying 'No' is Saying Yes to You and What Matters. 

It's a nice reminder to learn how to say no as well as how to say yes in our professional and personal lives. 

_____

In other news... I'll be traveling this week to a very special conference for entrepreneurs and creatives called, The Unique Camp. Four days of perspective changing experiences - no electronics allowed. I'm quite excited to step outside of my comfort zone and come back brimming with ideas and inspiration for all of our businesses.